In the field of web-based Internet software applications, the leading browsers conform to one or more of the several popular web-page enhancing coding standards, which allow a user to produce graphics that may be used to create a personal photo calendar, for example. Currently, the solution to building rich browser-based Internet application is to leverage and utilize a third-party development standard such as Flash, Java, and ActiveX. Since these technologies are not native to the leading web browsers, they all require the user to download and install browser components. However, the functionality of each of these third-party technologies may be limited due to the operating system of the computer being used to run the web-based software applications. This is particularly relevant to web-based calendar building applications.
One method of producing a photo calendar using digital images is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0085578 to Quek et al. According to the method described in the Quek reference, one or more digital images are stored in an image collection location and displayed in a first application window. One of the images displayed in the first application window is then selected and associated within a vacant calendar image field associated with a month included in the calendar. The selected digital image is subsequently displayed in the calendar image field in a second application window, which is separate and distinct from the first application window.
While the method described in the Quek reference allows a calendar to be built using one or more digital images, it suffers from a number of drawbacks and deficiencies. For example, the calendar building method in the Quek reference does not allow a user to view the available digital images and the vacant calendar image fields in a single application window. This arrangement makes it difficult to build a photo calendar since the user cannot view the digital images that have already been selected to be included in the calendar, thereby making it difficult to easily and efficiently move the digital photos into the vacant calendar image fields. In addition, it may be difficult for a user to avoid using unwanted duplicate digital photos in a single calendar. Moreover, the method in the Quek reference also makes it difficult for the user to arrange the digital photos in a specific order when building the calendar since the user is not able to see the digital images that have already been associated with a calendar image fields. These deficiencies may result in a reduced efficiency in building a photo calendar according to the method described in the Quek reference.
Another method for presenting digital images on a display is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,389 to Morris et al. In particular, the Morris reference discloses that one or more digital images are displayed in a first region of a display device, and a media container is displayed in a second region of the display device. The digital images may be moved to the second region by a dragging operation so that the digital images may be arranged in desired fashion in the media container. While the method disclosed in the Morris reference describes using first and second regions for establishing groups of digital images within a media container, the Morris reference does not teach or suggest the use of such an arrangement in building a calendar using one or more digital photographs.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a system and method that provides a web-based photo calendar building software that is fully supported by different operating systems and web browsers without having to download or install external software such as Flash, Java or ActiveX. Further, there exists a need for a method for efficiently building a calendar using one or more digital images. The present invention fills these needs as well as other needs.